JULY 30, 2025 – Forty high school students tested their creativity and problem-solving skills at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division on July 22.
The Society of American Military Engineers hosts a week-long camp for high school students at Naval Base Ventura County, where they tackle real-world engineering challenges with help from industry and military mentors.
SAME Camp Director Dave Brewer credited the region’s technical resources for helping to create that level of realism.
“We’re blessed with the warfare centers that are here and the Seabee team,” Brewer said. “Those components are incredible to help us.”
Tom Dowd, director of NAWCWD’s Ranges/Targets Operations, Instrumentation and Labs Group, welcomed the students. He connected their activities to the Navy’s bigger purpose.
“Our mission is to support the warfighter,” Dowd said. “Whether you’re designing a drone, launching a rocket, or analyzing a signal, it all connects back to the fleet.”
Campers took turns with two main STEM activities that mimicked challenges engineers face in disaster and combat zones. They included a water rocket challenge and a drone rescue mission.
Angel Zamarron, who leads NAWCWD’s Student Outreach and Employment-Academic Partnerships, walked students through the water rocket task. She pointed out the practical engineering and teamwork skills it would challenge.
“You’re responding to a natural disaster, and you don’t have a flare gun,” Zamarron explained. “Design a rocket with what’s available and get it high enough for rescuers to see.”
Teams had simple supplies: one plastic bottle, tape, paper, scissors, and some recycled materials. Under clear skies and near-perfect weather, students launched their rockets using pressurized air.
Jeff Leonard, a senior system safety engineer and SAME mentor, moved among student teams as they designed, rebuilt, and launched their rockets.
“You can learn the physics of a rocket, but when the fin comes off and it doesn’t fly straight, that’s when it sticks,” Leonard said. “It’s the hands-on part that makes it real.”
In the NAWCWD Innovation Lab’s drone enclosure, students encountered a fresh challenge. They needed to guide quadcopters through an obstacle course that mimicked a disaster zone. Two team members flew drones without being able to see the course, instead relying on radio instructions from teammates outside the netted area.
Denise Ataei, a NAWCWD intern from University of California, Santa Cruz, showed how to jam radio frequencies. Students learned firsthand about emerging electronic threats by experiencing real-time disruptions.
“Using the software-defined radio, we’re able to interfere with communication between the walkie-talkies by transmitting noise on the same frequency,” Ataei explained. “It’s a controlled way to demonstrate how jamming works, and the students get to experiment with the variables.”
After the Innovation Lab activities, students got into vans for tours of NAWCWD facilities. They explored the Airborne Instrumentation Systems Department, the Threat/Target Systems Department, and the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30, also known as the “Bloodhounds.”
At VX-30, students climbed into the cockpits of a KC-130T and a P-3C Orion.
“There were so many buttons,” said a rising sophomore. “But I could do this.”
Inside the hangar, Lt. Dave Didier pointed out the maze of knobs, switches, and flight controls in the KC-130T, while Lt. Sean Branick led groups to the P-3C parked outside.
That kind of reaction is exactly what camp leaders hope for. Cody Reese, the chief technology officer at the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, said the camp has expanded. It now goes beyond traditional Seabee construction. It also includes today’s needs, like cyber and electronic warfare.
“Whether you’re enlisted, officer, civilian, or contractor,” Reese said, “you can support sea, air, infrastructure, or cyber operations. We expose them to all of it so they can start thinking about where they might want to go.”
At the Advanced Live, Virtual, Constructive lab, campers tested flight simulators used by Navy engineers and pilots. The lab blends live systems with virtual and simulated environments to create realistic test and training scenarios.
“I got the plane off the runway but then pulled up too hard and the wings came off,” said a rising junior. “But for like two minutes, I actually felt like I could be a pilot.”
Story by Michael Smith
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division